THE IBEIGATION AGE. 



gardens and orchards, when a dry season set in. A 

 pumping plant for irrigating will be equally serviceable 

 for supplying stock water, since the drinking troughs 

 may be supplied from the reservoir. In fact, the earth 

 reservoir is the best for storing water. It is simple, 

 easy and convenient to combine the work to supply 

 water for the garden and orchard as well as for the 

 stock. The small irrigation plant that takes care of 

 the garden and orchard soon pays for itself, even though 

 neither vegetables nor fruits are grown for the mar- 

 ket. The saving in the purchases made necessary for 

 the table, in the absence of vegetables and fruits from 

 a good garden and orchard, will soon amount to as 

 much or more than the cost of the plant. 



The writer knows of instances where the irrigation 

 plant was used for growing both fruit and vegetables 

 for the market and for both industries produced enough 

 to pay for the cost several times over, the first year. 

 It is in arid countries, as well as during dry years, 

 that vegetables and fruits are so scarce and sell at 

 such high, and for the irrigator, remunerative, prices. 



It is an old adage which says, "In time of peace 

 prepare for war." May one not be permitted in these 

 times of plenty to say, "In time of prosperity prepare 

 for dry seasons," and suggest the best time to install 

 an up-to-date irrigation plant for the garden and orchard 

 is this year, and thus insure for the future full crops? 

 To delay means, wait until the dry season arrives. To 

 do so means great haste, and too often overlooking es- 

 sential features that may greatly lessen the proper effi- 

 ciency of the plant. 



This is a practical age and, ours are the most prac- 

 tical people in the world. Practical people provide 

 against uncertainties, therefore prudence decrees that 

 irrigation must intervene to save the crops in dry years 

 in the humid sections. Wisdom ordains that the fer- 

 tile soils of our great arid regions must be made fruit- 

 ful by irrigation to supply homes for other millions. 



THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY. 



The following letters will be interesting to many 

 of our readers along the Eio Grande river as well as 

 many others who advocate dams as against pumping 

 plants. It will be worth the while of manufacturers of 

 pumping machinery of all kinds to study conditions in 

 the valley of the Eio Grande river. Ed. 

 The Irrigation Age, Chicago, III.: 



Following the line of pumping irrigation which I 

 am pleased to note you are following very closely, I 

 enclose you a letter we received from Mr. Samuel J. 

 Hensley of Presidio, Tex., which may be of interest to 

 your readers, coming as it does from a man of as wide 

 experience as Mr. Hensley. 



Eespectfully, 



J. A. SHARP, 

 Manager, Rio Grande Lund & Imp. Co. 



PRESIDIO, PRESIDIO COUNTY, TEX., Nov. 15, 1902. 

 Eio Grande Land & Imp. Co., El Paso, Tex.: 



DK.UI SIR: Without the honor of an acquaintance 

 with you I beg the liberty of addressing you a line on 

 the subject of Agriculture and Irrigation in El Paso 

 Valley. To begin with I am a Californian. A son of 

 the land of gold, flowers, fruits and progressive people. 

 I have watched the growth of that land of beauty from 

 1853 to this the day when the efforts of the most intelli- 

 gent, most metropolitan people on earth have produced 



what is about as near a '"'Garden of Eden" as we are 

 likely to know in our day. I was raised on the banks of 

 irrigation ditches and bathed in them when a child. I 

 am the first man that ever placed a- trancet on the 

 Swilling Canal, the first and original (American) canal 

 in the Salt Eiver Valley in Arizona, following the course 

 of the old Aztec Canal, where Phoenix now stands. I 

 harye since that time taken two canals from the Eio 

 Grande and been connected with other enterprises of that 

 nature. 



With that experience and the fact that I have been 

 an agriculturist all my life, I feel that my views on the 

 subject of Irrigation in the Eio Grande Valley may be 

 of some worth, and have decided to give you an opinion 

 without the asking, which I hope may at least serve to 

 increase your faith in the new enterprise of which I see 

 you are at the head. 



The Big Dam at El Paso will be a failure and a 

 menace to the city and valley as long as it holds any 

 considerable quantity of water, which will not be very 

 long, as the slickens (sediment) will equal about 1/20 

 of the water that flows into the basin with the result that 

 within 10 years it will be filled to the top of the wall, 

 making a more or less level valley the size of the space 

 covered by the water when the dam is full. This deposit 

 can not be flushed out, as claimed by the supporters of 

 the enterprise. After the basin fills there will be left 

 onlv an interesting waterfall which may be utilized for 

 generating electricity or other power, nothing more, 

 and the International Dam will have served the sole 

 purpose of giving employment to an army of laborers 

 and inflating values of real estate for the time, which 

 may or may not be good for the growing city of the 

 Southwest. 



On the other hand, I predict that your enterprise 

 for supplying the valley with water by means of pumps 

 is entirely feasible and that you will meet with great 

 success, and that you will do more for El Paso than 

 all the dams that may lie built in the years to come'on 

 the Bio Grande. 



There is still another feature in your favor which 

 many gardeners will agree is of much importance. The 

 muddy waters of the Eio Grande are sure destruction 

 to many plants. The fine sediment covers the leaves 

 and the plants die. It is worthless for the irrigation 

 of flowers of many kinds. It rots tomatoes, onions, 

 melons and lettuce, and cabba-ge plants are often de- 

 stroyed by being covered with the slime from the water. 

 I own a large farm at Paloo in this county which is 

 irrigated from a ditch from the river, and I know what 

 I am writing about. The alluvial deposit which the 

 water brings to the land is good for the land, of course, 

 but the difficulties it brings are more than an offset to 

 the advantages. 



I have simply written you this letter to encourage 

 you Jn the good work you have commenced for the good 

 that others will receive from your efforts and with the 

 hope that it may serve you some good in your under- 

 taking. I have had two struggles with canals from the 

 Eio Grande and frankly own that I have more faith in 

 pumps than dams, and if I had used pumps in the 

 beginning I would be wealthy to-day, whilst as a matter 

 of fact, I am land poor through trying to dam the river 

 until now in despair I say D n the river, and will put 

 in a pump as soon as I can get one. 

 Eespectfully, 



Your obt. servt., 

 SAMUEL J. HENSLEY. 



